Lotus F1 Chair GERARD LÓPEZ will be the new owner of Spanish second division side Lugo. López will pay €1.5M ($1.9M) for shares in the club, which went on sale seven days ago. The acquisition "is not about business." López: "It is a personal matter. I am from Lugo and I have a particular love for the province and the region. Two years ago I promised my parents I would spend more time in Galicia. I am crazy about football and Lugo is doing very well" (AS, 12/17). ... Barcelona President JOSEP MARIA BARTOMEU has signed GABI PÉREZ, "who will take the new role of general director of operations." The announcement by Bartomeu followed statements by the coordinator of the Catalonian Police Force (MARCA, 12/16). ... Scottish Championship side Rangers Manager ALLY MCCOIST remains in the position "following a short meeting at Ibrox." Rangers Board Chair SANDY EASDALE was present along with McCoist and non-Exec Dir DEREK LLAMBIAS (STV, 12/17).
THE LAST LAP: New Zealand Olympic track athlete SARAH COWLEY "has called time on her competitive athletics career." The 30-year-old represented New Zealand at the 2012 London Olympics, the 2006 and 2014 Commonwealth Games and multiple World University Games. She has "many national titles to her name" (NEW ZEALAND HERALD, 12/17). ... Former Indian cricket player SACHIN TENDULKAR's autobiography "Playing It My Way," initially published in English, “will be printed in eight Indian languages, starting with Marathi, over the next six months.” Publishing firm Hatchette India “expects a huge response for the Marathi version of the book and is hoping to sell around 50,000 copies soon after the launch” (IANS, 12/17). ... Retired N.Y. Yankees players DEREK JETER and HIDEKI MATSUI “are teaming up” to support children in the Tohoku region. The former MLB All-Stars “will participate in the Tomodachi Charity Baseball Game on March 21, 2015, at Tokyo Dome, an event designed to help support children still feeling the effects of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake” (JAPAN TIMES, 12/17). ... Serie A side AS Roma coach RUDI GARCIA “has hit out on Twitter after being banned for two games for an altercation with a steward.” Garcia “was banned for two games, and had earlier released a message denouncing the accusations levelled at him by a Genoa steward.” Now the Frenchman “has posted a complete version of the note on his official Twitter page, announcing his intention to fight the charges” (FOOTBALL ITALIA, 12/17).
DEVI HANDED BAN: Indian boxer L. SARITA DEVI was "handed a one-year ban" by the Int'l Boxing Association (AIBA) for "refusing to accept her bronze medal at the Asian Games but the punishment is unlikely to hurt her career too badly" as she would be available to compete in the 2016 Olympic qualifiers (PTI, 12/17). Indian Sports Minister SARBANANDA SONOWAL said on Wednesday that the Indian government "has written to AIBA to revoke the suspension" of Devi. Sonowal and former cricketer SACHIN TENDULKAR "were among many
who had shown strong support" for Devi (PTI, 12/17).
